In the September quarter 2010, the trend estimate of total accommodation takings for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms increased by 1.8% to $2,038.7 million compared with the June quarter 2010.

Over the same period, the seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 1.7% to $2,041.7 million.

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE

The September quarter 2010 trend estimate room occupancy rate of 64.5% for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous quarter.

Over the same period, the seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 64.7%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)

Release Date

December 2010

30 March 2011

March 2011

30 June 2011

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

This issue presents results from the September quarter 2010 Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA) for the following categories of establishments:

hotels and resorts with 15 or more rooms

motels, private hotels and guest houses with 15 or more rooms

serviced apartments with 15 or more units

The scope of the STA has been reduced to cover hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms this is consistent with the scope of the quarterly STA prior to the March quarter 2005.

The following categories of establishments were included in the STA from March quarter 2005 to June quarter 2010, they are excluded from the September quarter 2010 issue of this publication and onwards:

hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 to 14 rooms

caravan parks with 40 or more powered sites

holiday flats, units and houses of letting entities with 15 or more rooms or units

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

SUMMARY COMMENTARY

ORIGINAL

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments

This summary contains key findings for original estimates. Original series are impacted by seasonal variations and irregular or non-seasonal influences. Comparison between quarters should be made with caution.

Room occupancy rate

The room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 65.8% in the September quarter 2010.

Hotels usually have higher occupancy rates than serviced apartments and motels. In September quarter 2010, hotels had an occupancy rate of 70.8% compared with 69.2% for serviced apartments and 58.6% for motels.

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE, by type of establishment - Australia

There was an increase in occupancy rate between September quarter 2009 and September quarter 2010 in all states and territories except Tasmania and South Australia.

Northern Territory had the highest occupancy rate (79.8%) in September quarter 2010 and experienced the largest increase (by 5.5 percentage points) from 74.3% in September quarter 2009. The second highest occupancy rate was in Australian Capital Territory (75.4%) and the lowest was Tasmania with 49.6%.

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE, States and territories

Room nights occupied

Room nights occupied were 13.7 million in the September quarter 2010 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms.

New South Wales contributed the largest proportion (30.9%) of room nights occupied for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, closely followed by Queensland at 28.5%.

Average length of stay

The average length of stay in September quarter 2010 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 2.3 days.

For the September quarter 2010, Queensland (2.7 days) reported the longest average length of stay for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, followed by Western Australia (2.4 days). South Australia had the shortest average length of stay with 1.9 days.

Accommodation takings

In the September quarter 2010, accommodation takings were $2,090.2 million for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms.

Takings from accommodation, Hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms - Australia

Accommodation takings in September quarter 2010 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms were highest in New South Wales ($644.6 million) and Queensland ($573.4 million).

Average takings

For Australia, the September quarter 2010 average takings per room night occupied were $152.11 for establishments with 15 or more rooms.

Average takings for the September quarter 2010 ($152.11) were higher than September quarter 2009 ($147.30).

Motels have consistently lower average takings per room night occupied than hotels or serviced apartments, regularly reporting an average of $60 less per room night occupied than hotels and an average of $40 less than serviced apartments.

In September quarter 2010 average takings per room night occupied in hotels were $173.21 compared with $162.29 for serviced apartments and $119.16 for motels.

AVERAGE TAKINGS, by type of establishment - Australia

Star grading

In the September quarter 2010, the room occupancy rate for five-star hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 78.2% compared with 42.7% for one-star establishments. All grades of establishment had higher occupancy rates in September quarter 2010 than in September quarter 2009. Five-star establishments experienced the largest increase in occupancy rate (4.6 percentage points).

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE, Star grading - Australia

In the September quarter 2010, average takings per room night occupied were $227.65 for five-star hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms compared with $91.00 for two-star establishments. All grades of establishment had higher takings in September quarter 2010 than in September quarter 2009 except ungraded establishments. One-star establishments experienced the largest increase in average takings per room night occupied with an increase of $10.11 per room night occupied.